Barclays whistleblowing head to leave bank - source

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays’ (BARC.L) global head of whistleblowing is leaving the bank, according to a source familiar with the matter, five months after regulators began investigating Chief Executive Jes Staley for attempts to unmask a whistleblower.

The logo of Barclays bank is seen on glass lamps outside of a branch of the bank in the City of London financial district in London September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Jonathan Cox, a former police detective inspector, is leaving after dropping an employment lawsuit against Barclays for alleged whistleblowing rule breaches. His employment case had been listed at the East London Tribunal for Sept. 13, but the tribunal confirmed it had been withdrawn.

No details about the case or his allegations have been disclosed.

A spokesman for Barclays and Cox’s lawyer declined to comment on his departure, the case and whether there had been any financial settlement.

A call to Cox’s office line was directed to his voicemail.

Cox joined Barclays in May 2013 according to his LinkedIn profile and led the bank’s whistleblowing team for more than two years.

Britain’s two financial regulators have been investigating Barclays and Staley for alleged breaches of whistleblowing rules since April after the CEO tried twice to identify an anonymous whistleblower last year, despite strict UK rules designed to protect them.

Barclays has reprimanded Staley and said it would cut his bonus over his attempts to discover the identity of the author of a letter that made allegations “of a personal nature” about a senior banker. But the bank has resisted calls to fire him for what Chairman John McFarlane has called an “honest” mistake.

Reuters does not know if Cox was involved in the episode.

Cox listed his responsibilities as programme development and implementation, managing regulatory relationships, rolling out a global marketing strategy and protecting employees who report wrongdoing.